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The 7 Key Traits of Enduring Characters with Author Linda L Kane

This week Author Linda Lee Kane is sharing The 7 Key Traits of Enduring Characters. She has a new book out, Death on the Vine.

Linda L. Kane MA in Education, PPS, School Psychologist, and Learning Disability Specialist, is the author of Death on the Vine, Chilled to the Bones and The Black Madonna. She lives with her husband, three dogs, one bird, and eight horses in California.

Have you ever read a book or seen a
movie that had such great characters that even now, months or years later, you
still think about them?

That’s the real magic of storytelling.
Being able to write a character that sticks in someone’s heart and mind all
their life is incredibly powerful or exciting for one person maybe different
for someone else.

But there are a few trends. If you
study memorable characters that have endured over time, you’ll find that
certain traits show up again and again. This article contains 7 traits in
particular that can help your characters carve a spot in the mind of readers
(although there maybe more than these 7).

Before we get into the good stuff,
let me start this off with two caveats.

First: Don’t make all of your
characters all seven of these traits. In Most cases, that’s just bad writing
(but there are always exceptions). Pick one, maybe two. Or none, or bits and
pieces of several! None of the things listed are set-in-stone the only way to
have an enduring character. They’re just guidelines.

Second: Don’t assume that giving your
characters one or two of these traits will instantly make them a great,
well-rounded character. It’s not that easy. Strong characters have a lot of
complexity and need a lot more depth that what I can explain in just one list.

And with those warnings, I give you 7
traits of Enduring Characters. I got this information at a writing conference
and I’m excited to pass on what I’ve learned.

1.An air of mystery.

2.There’s something about this character that we don’t fully know. If your
character has a dark past, it’s usually best to keep most of it in the dark-at
least for the first half of the book. Don’t tell us everything upfront. Make us
Wonder

Example: Think of
Strider (Aragorn) from The Lord of the Rings, the first time we meet him. He’s
dark and mysterious and up to something. We don’t even know if he’s good or bad
yet. Argorn ends up fitting some of these other traits too, but right off the
bat, this is the first one we see.

3.Worth of redemption.

This can apply to anti-heroes, villains, or anyone else
applicable in your story. They’re a big jerk, but a tiny spark of humanity can
sometimes help bring them to life. Maybe they’ve got a soft spot for someone or
something, or maybe they truly believe they’re doing what they’re doing for the
greater good. It can even make your villains scarier, because it makes them
harder to pin as nothing but an evil monster-it’s not black and white like
that. The real villains aren’t always so obvious.

Examples: This can become a really gray area of morality,
since some characters do things so awful that some readers will NEVER forgive
them, regardless of their redemption ar. But a character like Loki in Marvel’s
Thor movies is a good example. His bitterness causes him to lash out and do
awful things, but Thor still believes his brother is capable of redemption. He
still sees the good in a family member who he loves so much.

4.Highly loyal or highly treacherous.

Either you know you can trust them,
or you know you can’t. Obviously you can’t give this trait to all of your
characters, and actually, it’s not a predictable as you might think. Just
because we can’t trust someone doesn’t mean we know what they’re up to. We’ll
be anticipating their move but completely unaware of what they’re
planning-which is actually a great place to build tension. As far as highly
loyal, sometimes it’s nice to have that one character that is a ‘safe sot’ for
your character. You need to take breaks from the tension every now and then!

Example: Back to Lord of the Rings,
we have Sam, who is infinitely loyal to Frodo. When Frodo is trying to leave
the Fellowship and go on his own, Sam follows Frodo’s boat into the water even
though he can’t swim and almost drowns as a result. When the end is near and
both are completely spent, Sam finds the strength to carry Frodo partway up the
mountain. This incredible, selfless loyalty and friendship endears Sam to
viewers.

Example: Queen Levan from the Lunar
Chronicles fits the opposite side of the spectrum as someone highly
treacherous. She is loyal to absolutely no one and will lie, manipulate, and
mislead to get what she wants. She claims loyalty and faithfulness to her
kingdom, but knowingly imposes harsh living conditions on the vast majority of
her kingdom. She claims loyalty to the man she’s in love with, but manipulates
him just as much as everyone else and twists the promises she made him to her
own benefit.

4.Consistent, but capable of surprises.

People are usually pretty consistent
based on their personality traits. They tend to make choices based on their
core values, which can vary a little, but for the most part they stay on the
same route. At the same time, they’re not flat-they’re capable of making an
unexpected choice.

Example: Since we’re talking about
the Lord of the Rings so much…how about Merry and Pippin? They’re consistent in
their role of comic relief, and in the earlier movies, they’re not capable of
much (they don’t have special skills or combat training). Despite this, they
show themselves to be quick-witted and brave when the time calls for it and they
pull off incredible, unexpected feats.

5.Highly self-sacrificing.

These characters accept the
challenge. When no one else will volunteer, they step up. When it comes to the
life of someone they care about, they’re willing to risk their own welfare.
This can make for an interesting read when we know they’ll give 100m% when
things get rough-even die if they have to.

Example: One of the most obvious
examples here is Katniss from The Hunger Games. She speaks up and volunteers
for almost certain death to save her sister’s life. This sort of knee-jerk
reaction that she had to speak up is one of the first impressions we get of
her, as readers.

6.Part of a love story.

This doesn’t have to be romantic
loves story-just any powerful relationship. The lengths your character will go
through for their friend/lover/family member/etc. can make them more enduring
as a character, because of the worth in their relationship.

Examples: Romeo and Juliet; Katniss
and Prim; or Harry, Hermione, and Ron. It's more about the relationship and the
lengths one will go to save/protect the other.

7.Succeed at the impossible.

They are an expert of their task-they
can do things most couldn’t dream of accomplishing. Sometimes there’s a little
bit of wish-fulfillment in a character meeting this trait, which is why you
can’t have it in every member of your cast. Occasionally, however, it’s nice to
have someone who’s really good at what they do.

Example: This describes a TON of main
characters, especially in the fantasy and sci-fi genres. Think about Luke
Skywalker, Katniss Everdeen, Frodo Baggins, even characters on Scorpion. Anyone
who’s overthrown an empire/government, anyone who save the world from certain
doom. You’ll also notice that many of these characters are an expert at a
certain task or skill. When they’re in their element, we have someone we can
root for because we’re confident in their ability to come out on top.

Many of these iconic characters
possess 2-5 of the traits, so remember-you’re not limited to one, and you don’t
have to squeeze in all 7.

Just before high school graduation, Daisy Murphy returns home from a football game and finds her mother standing over her abusive boyfriend’s body—holding a bloody hammer. In the aftermath, Daisy flees her home and eventually establishes a new life as an expert winemaker in the Central Valley of California. But as hard as she tries to get away from her past, the effects of that horrible night travel with her.

Detective Jake Frisco has unearthed a murder at the vineyard where Daisy is employed as the winery’s expert winemaker. It doesn’t take long to discover that Daisy is haunted by her past and carries a heavy burden. It seems that possible involvement in an unsolved murder is part of her life’s baggage. Does this put Daisy at the top of the suspect’s list? Can he put aside his growing feelings for her and follow the leads in the case, even if they take him straight to her as the murderer?

Can Daisy finally face her past and trust that the truth she offers the Detective will be enough to save her? Will she find the courage to ask for a future beyond the sorrow of her youth—a future filled with love and self-worth?

19 comments:

Hi Nas and Linda - these will be great for those who are writing fiction and stories ... and a great set of ideas anyway. The idea for your story 'Death of the Vine' is intriguing ... good luck and cheers to you both - Hilary

I want to add that I am a retired psyhologist and I have pulled information on individuals from Freud, Jung, and so many others to help me get a better sense of the individuals that I am portraying. It's something to think about for your own writing.

Hi Jess, I think by writing done your characters, their names, their habits, conflicts they have with your other characters it helps you get a sense of who they are. When you get that down, see what traits stand out and then look up in a psychology book about those traits and maybe you'll discover examples of others with similiar traits as your character. Sometimes they will have a list of emotional and psychological traits you can use to really enhance your characters.